LETTERS: Friday, August 19, 2016
Dark Sky project is great idea for Glacier Park
The International Dark Sky Preserve designation for the Glacier-Waterton Peace Park (reported in the Inter Lake on Aug. 7) is a great plan. I applaud this awareness of the purpose and singularity of our park. A quiet sky is also part of the park’s mandate. Helicopter overflights are an unnecessary disturbance to visitors and wildlife and completely inconsistent with the park’s purpose. Some are disturbed more than others — what about the veteran with PTSD? Let’s hike in his/her boots. Terrifying?
Quiet Glacier Coalition could use your help (quietglacier.wix.com). —Karen Feather, Coram
Put a meter on the water plant
Responding to the article on the July 31 Opinion page, “Water belongs to all of us,” by Glen Hook of Kalispell, I say, old chap, good show.
My take is the county should install a water meter that should put brakes on how much water he can pump for business purposes.
Why should a citizen enrich himself on our water? You’re damn right it’s all our water. Pumping water 24 hours, 7 days a week, without us sharing the profit sure don’t sound smart to me. A man should own what’s below his feet — but no more than six feet under — just enough to put one there. If approved, we want our cut. —Marcel Guy Cote, Libby
Something doesn’t add up in water bottling proposal ...
If only op-eds were subjected to fact checking. Mr. and Mrs. Weaver (owners of Montana Artesian Water) state they want to base the regulatory process in facts.
Bravo! Here are some facts taken directly from their DNRC permit and their Aug. 7 op-ed in this paper. Page 24 of the DNRC permit states they want to produce 140,000 20-ounce bottles per hour (1.2 billion a year) upon full buildout. Now in their op-ed, the Weavers claim that can be transported in four trucks a day.
What would a truck capable of transporting 840,000 20-ounce bottles (a fourth of the daily output) look like?
DEQ should be embarrassed that they based their impact analysis on the building currently on site (stated on Page 4 of that permit). How about looking at what a factory capable of producing almost 200 million gallons/year of bottled water looks like? I did — it looks like a giant factory (I googled water bottling plants that size).
It is time for DEQ to admit the error of their ways and conduct a full Environmental Impact Analysis — now. Or the Weavers could amend their DNRC application to say they want to produce the amount of water that can be produced in the current building, and transported by four trucks a day. —Sandy Perry, Kalispell